Latch for pivoted flatiron handle



Dec. 20, 1955 SWENSON 2,727,322

LATCH FOR PIVOTED FLATIRON HANDLE Filed July 23, 1955 Inventor- Alix-ed G. Swensen,

Hi8 Attorneg I United States Patent LATCH FOR PIVOTED FLATIRON HANDLE Alfred G. Swenson, Ontario, Calif., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of York Application July 23, 1953, Serial No. 369,840

4 Claims. (Cl. 38-90) The present invention relates to flatirons of the type wherein the handle is pivoted at one end on the body of the fiatiron so it may be folded down against the flatiron body, and a latch is provided for holding the handle up away from the flatiron body which is its ironing position. Such pivoted handles are used in so termed travel irons so that the handle may be folded down on the fiatiron body to provide a compact structure for packing and carrying.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved latch for locking a pivoted fiatiron handle in its unfolded or ironing position which is simple in structure, reliable in operation, easy to operate and capable of being manufactured at low cost; and which at the same time holds the handle firmly in its ironing position and is not apt to be accidentally released.

For a consideration of what I believe to be novel and my invention, attention is directed to the following specification and to the claims appended thereto.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a flatiron embodying the invention, the handle being shown in full lines in latched ironing position and in dotted lines in folded postion.

Fig. 2 is a detail view showing the handle latch in released position and the handle in folded position.

Fig. 3 is an end view partly in section which shows the handle pivot arrangment.

Fig. 4 is an exploded view of the handle and latch structure.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a handle clamping spring.

Referring to the drawing, 6 indicates the soleplate, 7 the top shell or cover, 8 the handle and 9 the thermostat adjusting lever of an electric fiatiron. The cover may be fastened to the soleplate by any suitable means such as a screw (not shown) which passes through an opening in the cover and threads into a boss on the soleplate. The screw may be located under a dial plate 10 which is detachably connected to cover 7 and has on it indicia for indicating the settings for lever 9.

The structure so far described forms no part of the present invention. It is to be taken as typical of any suitable electric fiatiron construction. The invention has to do with the arrangement for pivotally mounting handle 8 on the flatiron and for latching it in its unfolded or ironing position.

Mounted on cover 7 at the rear end of the fiatiron is a handle bracket comprising a front wall 11 and two side arms 12 which are integral with the side edges of and extend rearwardly at right angles to Wall 11 and have on their bottom edges integral tongues 13 which project through slots 14 in cover 7 and, after being passed through the slots are twisted to fasten the bracket to the cover.

The rear portion of handle 8 is shaped to provide a pocket defined by a rear wall 15, side walls 16 and a top wall 17. The pocket has a front top ledge 18 the bottom wall of which forms a handle supporting shoulder 19.

The pocket is opened at its forward side beneath ledge 18 and at its bottom. It is of a size to house the handle bracket, the side walls 16 fitting down over the outer sides of arms 12 and being pivoted to the arms by pivot pins 20.

In Wall 11 is a rectangular opening 21 in which is mounted a latch 22. Latch 22 is formed preferably from a suitable molding material and is of a size to fit nicely in and fill the opening. The latch is pivotally supported on the edge of wall 11 at the lower end of opening 21, the bottom of the latch being provided with a transversely extending groove 23 in which such edge fits loosely. At its upper edge latch 22 is provided with a pair of upwardly projecting cars 24 which form a stop adapted to engage the rear side of wall 11 at the upper end of opening 21 to limit forward movement of latch 22. The latch is biased to a position in which ears 24 engage wall 11 by a latch spring 25 fixed to wall 11 at the upper end of opening 21 as indicated at 26. Latch spring 25 has a spring tongue 27 which presses against the rear surface of latch 22 and a pair of spring wings 28 positioned between the upper end of wall 11 and the adjacent wall of ledge 18. Spring wings 28 serve as cushioning means aganist which ledge 18 presses when the handle is latched in its up or ironing position and to take up any play between the parts. The front surface of latch 22 may be provided with a ribbed decorative surface as indicated at 29.

When handle 3 is in its up or ironing position, latch 22 is positioned under shoulder 19 to hold the handle firmly in such position, the latch being held under the shoulder by spring tongue 27. This is the position of the parts shown in Fig. 1. To lower the handle to folded down position, it is necesary merely to press back on latch 22 to move it from beneath shoulder 19 and permit the handle to drop down, downward movement being limited by the end of the handle engaging cover plate 7 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l. The position of the latch and adjacent handle parts when the handle is in folded position is shown in Fig. 2. Backward turning movement of latch 22 is limited by the upper portion of spring tongue 27. For holding the handle in folded position a handle spring 39 is fastened at the rear end of cover 7 to an ear 31 on the cover, the handle spring having an elbow 32 which engages a surface 33 at the lower inner end of pocket wall 15 as shown in Fig. 2. When the handle is in its ironing position, spring engages the adjacent wall surface of pocket wall 15 as shown in Fig. 1.

To change the position of the handle from its folded position to its up or ironing position it is necessary merely to lift up on the forward end of the handle, turning the handle on its pivots until ledge 18 deflects spring wings 28. At this time shoulder 19 will have moved slightly above the top edge of latch 22 to permit spring tongue 27 to force the latch beneath ledge 18. The weight of the forward end of the handle and the handle spring 30 will then function to hold the handle against the top of the latch.

On one side arm 12 of the handle bracket (Fig. 4) is an ear 36 to which is fastened a strain relief clamp 37 for the flatiron cord 38, the clamp arms 39 being squeezed around the cord as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. A cord protecting spring of usual construction and arrangement is indicated at 40.

By my invention there is provided a flatiron handle latch which while very simple in structure and capable of being manufactured and assembled at low cost is at the same time very reliable in use and not likely to get out of order. By reason of the handle bracket construction, the latch may be made relatively wide so as to give firm positive support for the handle when in ironing position. Also the arrangement permits of the latch being pivoted by what is in substance a simple tongue and groove connection. By this arrangement no extra pivot parts are required. Also the structure provides a pivot arrangement which can be quickly and easily assembled, it being necessary merely to set the latch in the bracket opening and slide it down to bring the bottom edge of the opening into the latch groove. To enable this to be done the latch is dimensioned so its height is enough less than the height of the opening to permit the rear edge of the groove to clear the bottom edge of the opening when the top edge of the latch is in engagement with the top edge of the opening.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In an electric flatiron, a body comprising a soleplate and a cover, a handle pivoted at its rear end on the rear end of said body, said handle at its rear end having walls including a top wall and side Walls which define a downwardly facing pocket having at its upward forward edge a downwardly facing shoulder, a handle bracket which is fixed to said body and projects up into said pocket at the forward end of the pocket, said bracket including a generally vertical forward portion, said portion being formed to provide an opening therein spaced from the bottom of said bracket, a latch pivotally mounted on the bottom edge of said opening, the upper edge of the latch being adapted to engage under said shoulder, and a spring acting between a fixed portion of the iron and said pivoted latch to bias said latch to a position under said shoulder.

2. The combination defined by claim 1 wherein the pivotal mounting for the latch comprises a groove across the bottom edge of the latch in which the top edge of the bottom wall of the bracket opening is positioned.

3. In an electric flatiron, a body comprising a soleplate and a cover, a handle bracket fastened on the cover comprising a generally vertical front wall and two rearwardly extending side arms, said front wall being formed to provide an opening therein spaced from the bottom of said front wall, a handle pivotally mounted on said arms, the rear portion of the handle having walls including a top wall and side walls which define a downwardly facing pocket in which said handle bracket is positioned, said walls of said pocket further including a forward pocket wall shaped to provide a ledge and a shoulder, the ledge being adapted to engage the upper end of said handle bracket, a latch pivotally mounted on said front wall of said bracket on the bottom edge of said opening, the upper edge of said latch being adapted to engage under said shoulder, and a spring member carried by the bracket which engages said latch to bias it to a position under said shoulder.

4. In an electric flatiron, a body comprising a soleplate and a cover, a handle bracket fastened on the cover comprising a generally vertical front wall and two rearwardly extending side arms, said front wall being formed to provide a rectangular opening therein spaced from the bottom of said front wall, a handle having at its rear end walls including a top wall and side walls which define a downwardly facing pocket in which said handle bracket is positioned, said walls of said pocket including a forward wall shaped to provide a ledge in an opposed facing relation with the top portion of said front wall of said bracket and a shoulder defining the lower edge of said forward wall, a rectangular latch pivotally mounted at its lower end on the bottom edge of said rectangular opening, its upper end being adapted to engage under said shoulder, spring means mounted on said bracket which engages said latch to bias it to a position under said shoulder, and stop means on the latch and cooperable with the front wall of said bracket for limiting movement of the latch toward the shoulder.

Spencer Jan. 18, 1944 Swenson Aug. 16, 1949 

